1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the art of vacuum loading mobile vehicles without discharging particulate matter to the environment. The invention is particularly concerned with a truck mounted industrial vacuum cleaner driven to a pick-up site, having a blower developing a high velocity air stream sweeping debris into a debris box on the truck for collection therein to be transported to a dump site, and having at least two different types of separators removing solids entrained in the air stream before they reach the blower and environment with externally accessible controls on the debris box selectively directing the air stream to the several separators to accommodate dry and wet debris.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Heretofore mobile vacuum loaders were equipped with bag filters which could not effectively handle wet debris especially under freezing conditions. Attempts to provide fine and coarse filters in series with a bypass control around the fine filter when wet debris was being handled required internal access to the debris box and prevented changeovers during operation at a pick-up site after the debris box is partially filled. A single filter bag house was fixedly mounted on the chassis of the vehicle with internal ducts from two separate inlets communicating with the debris box directing the air stream through first and second sets of bag filters or bypassing the first set when wet debris was being handled giving rise to clogging of air flow through the housing with wet debris especially under freezing conditions.